I am starting to like independence more and more. "Soveriegn" I
definately like the sound of that. With a willing partner like ESPN such a bowl
could become an excellent destination with a very nice payout. I would think
with a few years effort it could get it self some nice tie ins for some good
teams. I doubt it would ever become one of the very top bowls but of course the
Fiesta Bowl was once a start up small bowl. BYU helped to build that one into a
great bowl. The Holiday Bowl also grew because of BYU's involvement. They have a
track record of building bowls up.

Please don't start their own bowl game. That doesn't make sense. I'm not too
crazy about the tie-in to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (are you serious?), but I
LOVE the tie-in the good ol' Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. I love my Cougs, but
if they really want to "put their money where their mouth is," why
wouldn't they think their record will speak for itself as an independent BCS at
large school after the next 2 years. I imagine they would hope their BCS
at-large options would be much better by that time frame. In the interim, I'd
LOVE to see my Cougs in Sunny San Diego for the next 2 years!

@ crisb,You left a couple of zeros off the end. This is BYU we are talking
about not your school.I think you missed the biggest point here. ESPN is
interested in creating a bowl for BYU if they do not have another option. They
are being pro-active to make sure BYU does get a bowl in 2011. Would they do
that for your school? Would they have given your school a contract worth
millions per year independent of a conference affiliation?

Your
obsession is blinding you. BYU is nationally relevant, nationally respected and
recognized and ESPN knows any bowl with BYU will be a money maker.Your
school? Not so much! Eventually, your school will do fine (money-wise) on those
big pac coattails though.

@ So. Cal Reader. This is just a stop-gap to make sure BYU has a bowl in
their first year of independence. I expect they will have a good season but many
of the bowls that would be interested in them have their hands tied with
contracts in 11. It is cool that ESPN is looking out for them to make sure
they aren't left without a bowl this year. Other bowls will make provisions in
years to come and other schools will be looking at BYU to see if this route is
advantageous.The bowl picture will change dramatically in the next 5
years.

I like it. Seize the power from the rotten BCS. Create our own wealth with a
homegrown bowl game (wherein we control costs, payout,et and do so hoestly
unlike the current cest-pool system) as the program continues to grow.

Ah leave poor christina alone. He is jealous. This is just one more thing BYU
could do and utah never could so reality simply smacked her upside her head
again with this revelation. Just for fun let's recap all of the things BYU is
capable of that utah is not capable of.

BYU can be independent. utah
never could survive, let alone thrive, as an independent.

BYU can
have it's own worldwide television station. utah...well...no.

BYU can
have an exclusive multi year contract with ESPN the Worldwide Leader in sports
programing and broadcasting. utah....LOL

BYU can win a National
Championship in football. utah...well they tell us 2nd is better anyway.

I think I would wait on how they do as an independent before thinking about a
bowl. I am sure that if their season warrants it, they will be picked up by some
bowl somewhere. Rather than go independent, however, I would hope that this is a
transition time where they can eventually be invited in a BCS conference like
maybe, the Big 12 (minus Nebraska and Colorado). By going independent in
football, they are killing all other sport programs including basketball but
more especially track. This could eventually have an effect on football,
particularly on recruiting because no real blue-chipper will want to go play
football for a school with no assurance that they can get into a BCS bowl game.

Wow, it only took you 6 minutes from when this Cougar
article was posted to add your comment! You even beat your reaction time for
the Jimmer article today (10 minutes)! You are becoming better at constantly
refreshing the BYU news pages, looking for more stories.

I can see it now "The Devotional Bowl" where you'll have a
"Devotional" before kick-off and the presentation will be on HD BYU.
ESPN will cancel your contract and you'll be begging to get back into the WAC!!

One answer to Chris B's negative comments about BYU going undefeated and playing
in a BCS game is that in the past they played a harder schedule than the BCS
buster teams like Utah and Hawaii and in some years Boise St. For example in
2004, Utah did not have to play road games versus USC and ND. In 2008 they
played TCU in SLC not in Fort Worth.

It would have been fun to watch
Utah play USC and ND in 2004 with that excellent Urban Meyer team. But could the
Utes pull off 2 wins? Ditto for the TCU miracle in SLC in 2008. Would that
have happened on the road in Texas?

Please, I am not picking a fight
here. I was in Tempe cheering my head off as the Utes trampled all over Pitt.
What I am trying to show is simply the shallowness of the negative comment.
Nothing more nothing less.

I think there are plenty of teams that would be excited to play against BYU in a
bowl, especially with Heaps and our singy D in the mix. BYU will be a worthy
opponent as I predict them to go 10-2 (only losses to Texas and TCU).

@TJ - I didn't see anywhere in the article that ESPN is actively seeking a
bowl for BYU.........

All of this won't matter because BYU will be
playing in a major bowl before you can say Reno Mahe.